Board of Education member makes abrupt exit from meeting

The Board of Education was in a discussion on norms regarding the behavior of members in public when Bob Kerrigan left

By Jessica Maher Reporter-Herald Staff Writer

Posted:
02/06/2013 09:25:50 PM MST

In a discussion during Wednesday's Thompson School District Board of Education meeting about proposed operational norms for internal board member relationships, some of those norms may have been broken.

The 18 proposed norms, brainstormed during recent board retreats in which focus areas were also drafted, include having no surprises at meetings, staying on topic and listening to each other with respect and intent.

It was the discussion of norms regarding the behavior of board members in public that led to board member Bob Kerrigan's abrupt exit from the meeting. Particularly, it was a proposal that if a board member disagrees with the majority vote outcome, he or she should restate their beliefs or objections after the meeting, but only if those objections had previously been stated on the dais at the meeting.

Kerrigan had a heated back and forth with board member Denise Montagu, who requested the proposed norm be removed because it was a "slippery slope." In her view, the time to voice opinions about an issue is before a vote is taken. After that, members should support the majority decision, she said.

"Once the vote's taken, you need to support the vote," Montagu said.

Kerrigan disagreed.

"I don't answer to a single member on this board; I answer to my constituents," Kerrigan said. "You're taking my freedom of speech away."

No action was taken on the proposed norms, though the board members left after Kerrigan's departure agreed to remove several items including the stipulations to what a board member can say following a vote.

Also during Wednesday's special meeting, negotiations between the district and Thompson Education Association were discussed. For this year's budget process, the district will break from the longtime tradition of board members participating throughout labor negotiations.

Instead, a team made up of TEA representatives and district administration will conduct negotiations, led by a facilitator, and then bring issues to the board for consideration.

Superintendent Stan Scheer said it's a stylistic change that's more in line with how he's used to working with negotiations during a budget process.

"In my experience, I like the board to operate as a whole board when its considering issues," he said. "This process is designed so it doesn't feel like one or two board members are negotiating for the whole board."

Because board members are not involved, the negotiations will not be open to the public.

"I have confidence in our team," board member Leonard Sherman said. "That's what we hired these folks for, to work for the district and the public."

The negotiations team has begun to meet to lay out issues, Scheer said.